Some opinion on Richard III and Looking for Richard

Richard III and the Film Looking for Richard

May 18, 2006 by

Amy Madore  

Amy Madore

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The movie Looking For Richard is not a complete film based on Richard III by William Shakespeare, but rather a documentary organized by Al Pacino documenting his passion and struggle to make Shakespeare more available to the general public. Pacino feels that our current society is not well enough exposed to Shakespeare, and that what they are exposed to does not particularly interest them. 

I found however, that this reason that Pacino gave in the beginning of the film was only one of many factors that motivated him to create this film. What eventually became apparent during the film was what Shakespeare meant to the actors, how their personal struggle to perform the play was evident. It is said in the film that there is an idea that American actors are intimidated by performing Shakespeare and that the general consensus was that only the English could perform it successfully. 

Pacino and his crew interviewed actor, scholars, visited the birthplace of Shakespeare, and even visited the globe theatre in order to get a complete understanding of how to truly perform the play. Pacino seemed to be getting frustrated with all of the complications within Richard III that could not be answered by scholars. Pacino truly wants to show how important Shakespeare is to him, and you can feel his passion when he is performing some of the scenes from the play. 

The documentary portrayed 4 of the major scenes in Richard III, along with a few shorter minor connecting scenes to help the flow of his thought and also the flow of the story. One of the most powerful scenes for me was when the entire family, minus King Edward, is together and Richard is accusing Elizabeth of being the cause for the downfall his brother Clarence. The room seems tense and Richard’s tone is getting heated with Elizabeth, and meanwhile Margaret appears to be a
prophetic/apocalyptic voice in the room. 

I felt that this was one of the most powerful scenes in the film because it was a direct enactment of what I envisioned in my mind as I read the play. Pacino is true to the story and also true to Richard, by clearly and accurately displaying his evilness and hatred towards the world as well as everyone around him. He shows Richard manipulating his entire family, when it is truly he who has caused Clarence to die. 

The play and the documentary both convey the same idea, that one of the most interesting pieces of literature, Richard III, is something that everyone can relate to and should be able to enjoy and understand. Richard, in both the play and the film, is a cynical dark man who is power hungry, making him easily relatable to the majority of at least the American culture. Richard is interesting and complex, and this is apparent in the play, and is also one of the key factors to why I believe that Pacino’s adaptation was a successful one. Pacino showed Richard truly and honestly, and he had the passion and confidence to play the part wholeheartedly which is apparent in the film as well.